Device for milking animals

#1. Field of the Invention

#The present invention relates generally to devices for milking animals and in particular to milking robots for automatically connecting teat cups to the teats of an animal to be milked.

#2. Description of the Related Art

#The invention will now be explained in further detail with reference to the accompanying figures, in which:

#FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an embodiment of a device according to the invention;

#FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the device according to FIG. 1, and

#The invention will be described with reference to a device comprising four teat cups and four respective milk lines, although it will be obvious that the invention is also applicable to a device comprising a number of two or more teat cups.

#The device for milking animals may be of the type as described in US 2004/0094096 A1 in which in each milk line to the milk container there is provided a mounting block with the means mentioned in US 2004/0094096 A1. Four mounting blocks are arranged side by side and form one single unit. The components and materials described in US 2004/0094096 A1 are referred to in the present document.

#On each of these mounting blocks there is disposed an auxiliary reservoir with a closing device, as described in U.S. 2001/0054392 A1, of which the components and materials described are referred to in the present document. The auxiliary reservoir collects the foremilk that can be discharged via an outlet aperture. The outlet aperture is closable by the closing device, preferably in the form of a ball. Disposing such an auxiliary reservoir on a mounting block requires only normal professional knowledge and will therefore not be described here in further detail.